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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/09/01 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber--Eugene City Ha11--777 Pearl Street July 9, 2001 8p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Nancy Nathanson, Pat Farr, Scott Meisner, Gary PapS, Bonny Bettman. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Gary Rayor. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. 1.PUBLIC FORUM Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to extend the time of the public forum to allow a full three minutes for all of the speakers who submitted request-to-speak forms. Roll call vote; the motion passed 7:1; Councilor Nathanson voting in opposition. Mitzi Colbath, 2230 Churchill Street, announced that there would be a celebration of the Churchill Community Garden with a concert in the park and a desert potluck. She noted that Mayor Torrey had agreed to speak and invited the City Council. Ms. Colbath said that the Churchill Community Garden was considered an integral part of the citywide School Garden project and added that it had been honored with the National Garden Association 2001, Kid Spirit Community Award and Grant. She said that the garden integrated a school curriculum, a neighborhood community garden, a food bank growing area, an orchard, a berry patch, and a picnic area. She noted that there were over 2,500 hours of volunteer time put into the gardens. Regarding the Citizen Charter Review Committee, Ms. Colbath stressed that the committee had worked very hard over the period it had been in existence and raised concern over the ability of a newly appointed member to "catch up" with the rest of the members. She questioned the need for a newly member of the committee but stressed that the committee would welcome a new member and try to bring him or her "up to speed" with the rest of the members as quickly as possible. Dennis Bishop, PO Box 26441, said that the PeaceHealth expansion plan was bad for the community. He added that he was not in favor of the $25 million in City funds asked for by the hospital. He said there was no guarantee of better health care for people or better doctors so there was no incentive for taxpayers to pay. He opined that PeaceHealth was not looking out for the community and should expand at its own expense. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 1 Regular Session Jim Hale, 1715 Linnea Avenue, said that the hospital should be built in the downtown area. He urged that the hospital be given enough room for future expansion but stressed the importance of achieving the expansion in a timely manner. He suggested the area between Lincoln and Charnelton streets and between 11th and 13th avenues as a new hospital location. Nick Urhausen, 2858 Warren Street, said that the City Council should cease its nonsense regarding the planned hospital expansion. He opined the hospital would move to Springfield if it were not allowed to expand according to its plan. Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, raised concern over the possibility of businesses not wanting to come to Eugene because of the fear that the City Council would make each business location a special land use case in spite of existing City Code. Mr. Miller raised concern over the "Gang of 9" cartoons in The Register-Guard and opined that they would create a hateful image of Eugene. Mr. Miller raised concern over hate mail being sent to Eugene citizens of Jewish descent. Tom Fieland, 2940 Crescent Avenue, reported that the smoking ban had an immediate negative effect on his business. He said there were businesses that had filed for building permits to extend the time for people to be allowed to smoke by pretending to build an outside smoking area. He urged the council to "level the playing field" for businesses that had not filed for a building permit and thereby had not gotten an extension to allow people to smoke in their establishments. Stacie Mount, 2840 Grand Canyon Drive, noted that the proposed PeaceHealth location was 6-1/2 times larger than its original plan. She raised concern over the kind of traffic this would generate in a residential area. Wayne Ford, 110 1/2 Hillcrest Street, said that State law required any hospital expansions to have a "Certificate of Need." He suggested that any hospital relocation in the city be contingent on possession of that certificate. Tom Slocum, 1950 Graham Drive, spoke regarding the hospital relocation issue. He said that the City Council was undoing years of good planning work and sending a bad message to businesses looking to locate in the community by involving itself in the proposed relocation. He said that PeaceHealth was a regional facility that other communities used as well as Eugene, and that they needed better access. Regarding the idea that the hospital relocation would aid in the demise of the downtown area, Mr. Slocum asserted that downtown "was dying anyway." He raised concern that the City Council was doing things that did not make any sense. Rick Szakalski raised a concern that Peace Health would decide to move the hospital to Springfield because of the intervention of the City Council. Keith Nastiuk, 551 Montana Way, stressed that PeaceHealth needed to expand the hospital to add more beds. He stressed that the hospital also served other communities in the region who MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 2 Regular Session needed better access. He believed that years of planning by staff were being reversed by councilors with personal agendas. There being no other requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the Public Forum and requested councilor comments. Councilor Bettman noted that a Certificate of Need was no longer a State requirement for a hospital to relocate. Councilor Bettman called for staff to look into the extensions granted to establishments to extend the time to allow smoking and to make the ordinance more equitable. Councilor Nathanson said she was disturbed by the unfair competition of establishments that had applied for building permits to extend the time for people to be able to smoke inside. She raised concern with the way the ordinance was applied. Councilor Pap~ shared the concerns expressed by councilors Bettman and Nathanson, and called for staff to look into how the ordinance was being implemented. Councilor Kelly shared the concern over the implementation of the smoking ordinance and commented that it needed changing. Regarding the hospital relocation, Councilor Kelly noted that PeaceHealth had been inconsistent in its proposal for relocation and the council was reacting to that inconsistency. Councilor Taylor reiterated that PeaceHealth had changed its proposal since the original proposal had been submitted. Councilor Fart noted that he had voted against the smoking ban because of concern over inequities in business that would occur. He commented that even if there were no extensions there would still be inequities since people would just travel to bars outside the city limits to smoke. He said that the smoking ban had been poor legislation. II.CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Council Minutes; 1. June 11, 2001, Regular Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Resolution 4683; A Resolution Extending the Completion Date for Child Care Incorporated to Satisfy Conditions under Resolution 4442 D. Appointment to Proponent Committee for Preference Voting for Mayor and City Councilor Elections for the September 18, 2001 Election Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 3 Regular Session Councilor Meisner offered a correction to the June 11, 2001 minutes. On page 6, he noted that the recorded vote result had been 6:2, with himself and Councilor Pap~ voting in opposition. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. III.PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning the Downtown Mall; Repealing the Sunset Provisions of Section 2 of Ordinance Number 20121 and Section 3 of Ordinance 20122; Repealing Ordinance Number 20149, Ordinance Number 20150, and Ordinance Number 20227; Amending Section 4.874 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing an Immediate Effective Date Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Misha Seymour, 1313 Lincoln Street, said that a continuation and expansion of the Mall Exclusion Ordinance would be a "mean spirited policy." He urged that the council deal with things in a humane way. Mark Johnson, 1320 Inglewood Drive, said the ordinance was a good tool for police and urged support for the plan. Rachel Perkins, 838 West 4th Avenue, opined that the mall ordinance was unconstitutional. She said that the ordinance punished people for poverty and she urged the council not to expand it. She went on to say that if the council cared more about people than it did about business, it would eliminate the ordinance altogether, rather than expanding it. Russ Brink, 132 East Broadway, commented that the ordinance worked and did not target any specific part of the population. There being no further requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. Councilor Kelly noted that the current exclusion ordinance included three blocks of Broadway. He raised concern that the proposed expansion would increase the exclusion area by a factor of four and commented that would not be a mall exclusion ordinance anymore. He raised concern over the precedent that this would set and suggested the council was "putting a band-aid" on a public service problem. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 4 Regular Session IV. ACTION: Appointment to Citizen Charter Review Committee Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to appoint Bob O'Brien to Position 5 on the Citizen Charter Review Committee, the position being vacated by Freeman Holmer, to serve for the duration of the ad hoc committee. Councilor Meisner said that he would not support any new member on the committee. He raised concern over the ability of a newly appointed member being able to be brought "up to speed" before the business of the committee was concluded. Councilor Nathanson, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved to amend the motion by substituting "Susan Ban" for Bob O'Brien. Councilor Nathanson believed that there should be a replacement. She said that Ms. Ban came with a great deal of experience and was already "up to speed" because she had been following the issues of the Citizen Charter Review Committee. She said that it would not have been a burden on Ms. Ban or the committee to appoint her as a new member. Councilor Bettman opposed the amendment. She said that she would support the original motion. She noted that Mr. O'Brien had originally been voted on the committee and that he had been removed after the fact. She added that Mr. O'Brien was also current with the issues since he had also been attending the committee's meetings. Councilor Kelly said that he had been convinced by Councilor Meisner's statement. He believed that the best course to take was to reduce the size of the committee. He said that he would not support a motion for any new appointee. Councilor Pap~ supported the amendment. He said that both people in question were community- oriented people who followed the issues of the City. He opined that Ms. Ban would return balance to the committee. He noted that, although Mr. O'Brien lived within the urban growth boundary of Eugene, he did not live inside the city limits. Councilor Fart raised concern that there would not be a representative vote on the issue. Councilor Fart, seconded by Councilor Nathanson, moved to table the item. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 4:3; councilors Pap~, Nathanson, and Fart voting yes. Councilor Fart said he would support Councilor Nathanson's amendment. Mayor Torrey commented that he was disappointed with the vote. He said that the Citizen Charter Review Committee, as it was constituted even prior to the resignation of Mr. Holmer, was not representative of the community of Eugene. He said that when the council either reduced the size of the committee and took an individual off who was on one side of the political spectrum of the community or, voted someone else on the committee who was on the preponderance of the committee's side, he believed that the council was doing a disservice to the community. He said that trying to represent the committee as representative of Eugene residents when they were not was asking for a negative vote on the charter amendments when they came forward. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 5 Regular Session Councilor Kelly stressed that he had worked with Ms. Ban and Mr. ©'Brien and respected them both. He said that the committee was never said to be representative of the community at large and opined that it was too small in size to be representative. He expressed a desire to see a deliberative committee and commented that the remaining eight members would be deliberative. Regarding the question of someone living outside the city limits serving on the committee, Councilor Kelly stressed that the Eugene Code, cited in the agenda packet, specifically said committee members were required to live within the urban growth boundary of Eugene. The amendment failed, 4:3; councilors Pap~, Nathanson, and Fart voting yes. The main motion failed, 5:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting yes. Councilor Meisner thanked Freeman Holmer for many years of community service, both as a City Councilor and as a member of numerous City committees and civic organizations. Councilor Meisner, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to reduce the size of the Citizen Charter Review Committee from nine members to eight by eliminating Position 5. Councilor Pap~ reiterated Councilor Meisner's comments regarding Freeman Holmer. Councilor Pap~, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved to table the motion. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 4:3; councilors Pap~, Fart, and Nathanson voting yes. Councilor Fart expressed concern that the committee was not geographically representative. Councilor Kelly said that the committee was dealing with complex subject matter and had already been working for seven months. He opined that there was no way to bring someone on, late in the process, and expect them to become an equal participant. He encouraged both Ms. Ban and Mr. ©'Brien to keep attending meetings and offering suggestions during the time allotted for public input at the meetings. Councilor Nathanson raised concern over making a decision about the make-up of the Charter Review Committee without the entire City Council in attendance. She noted that Councilor Rayor had concerns over the balance of representation on the committee and said she would not support a motion to simply remove a position. She did not believe it would take too long for the nominees to catch up with the rest of the committee. Councilor Pap~ agreed with Councilor Nathanson and added that the topics discussed were separate and new topics could be easily picked up by a new member. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 4:3; councilors Pap~, Nathanson, and Fart voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey adjourned the regular session and called to order a work session on PeaceHealth siting options to be held in the McNutt Room of Eugene City Hall. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 6 Regular Session V. WORK SESSION: Peace Health Siting Options City Manager Johnson said that Lew Bowers of the Planning and Development Department would describe a variety of options to narrow possible site choices for staff to work on. He commented that another public information session on the narrowed staff work would be appropriate for the end of July. He also urged a discussion of the staffing costs associated with studying site options. Mr. Bowers stressed the importance of criteria for considering a hospital site. He suggested size, ability to vacate streets, alleys, and bikeways, transportation access, cost, and impacts on urban area as criteria to use when considering a site. Mr. Bowers showed street maps with possible sites shown in colored blocks. In response to a question from Councilor Meisner regarding whether there were other possible combinations of blocks where the hospital could locate, Mr. Bowers said the footprint of the hospital needed to be roughly rectangular in nature which limited other siting block options but said that other ideas were not necessarily precluded. Councilor Nathanson complimented the quality of staff work that went into the presentation. She raised concern that the City Council was substituting itself for the Planning Commission. She added that although there had been concerns expressed by the public over the traffic impact of a relocation in north Eugene, there would be a huge traffic impact no matter where the hospital finally located. Councilor Nathanson believed that the motion made regarding the relocation at a previous meeting was not working. She stressed that the council should be trying to achieve a good hospital development rather than trying to stymie development. Councilor Nathanson, seconded by Councilor Farr, moved to direct the City Manager to prepare a high level, quick turnaround, staff report on the following issues: 1. Compare transportation, and traffic impacts and challenges, for a major hospital in north Eugene, (Crescent, Coburg, etc.), and in downtown, (Hilyard, Willamette, etc.). 2. Compare transportation impact from a hospital on the Crescent site and residential development fully built out according to current zoning. 3. Describe the conditional use permit process and issues that would arise from a hospital plan submitted for the Crescent site. 4. Describe how the zoning addresses site development, including parking, (for example surface versus structured parking), and what City or developer circumstances might influence the development. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 7 Regular Session 5. Comment on impacts of a hospital oriented more toward Coburg Road than Crescent-what is gained or lost in terms of traffic and land use impacts? Councilor Kelly expressed his frustration with the motion. He stressed the importance of giving staff direction on the options that they had created. Mayor Torrey said that the motion was appropriate to the discussion. He verified that staff would have an opportunity to make their presentation. Councilor Kelly commented that he would like to have seen the Planning Commission involved as well, but noted that the process had been driven by time lines other than the City's. He stressed that he supported the hospital's need to expand but added that the issue was where it eventually would expand. Councilor Kelly offered a friendly amendment for item 1 of Councilor Nathanson's motion, which was accepted, to broaden it to deal with other infrastructure, cost, and urban growth boundary pressure impacts. Councilor Kelly offered a friendly amendment to item 2 of Councilor Nathanson's motion, which was accepted, to include typical densities as well as maximum densities and the time line of residential build out. Councilor Meisner agreed with Councilor Kelly's friendly amendments. In response to a question from Councilor Meisner regarding whether Councilor Nathanson was ready to eliminate some points from analysis, Councilor Nathanson said that her intent was to keep the proposed study focused to a few areas. Councilor Nathanson and her second accepted a friendly amendment from Councilor Meisner to ask for a study of ambulance delivery time. Councilor Meisner also offered a friendly amendment, which was accepted, to see the study include possible impacts to the R-3 and R-4 land supplies. Councilor Fart raised concern over the possible cost of keeping PeaceHealth in the downtown area. He commented that if PeaceHealth was allowed to relocate where it wished, it would cost the City much less. He stressed the importance of allowing PeaceHealth to keep its options open in north Eugene and added that the council should quit "hamstringing" people who were trying to build in the community. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to amend the motion by separating it into five separate motions. Roll call vote; the amendment passed unanimously. Referring to a council decision made the previous week to ask Planning staff to proceed with down zoning the property owned by PeaceHealth, Mayor Torrey said the impact of that decision would make PeaceHealth's ability to develop the site null and void. He believed that action was bad public policy. He added that, in the event the process continued, and the proposal came before the council in ordinance form, he intended to veto that ordinance if adopted by the council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 8 Regular Session He expressed a hope that three councilors would support him in sustaining the potential veto and expressed a further hope that such an action from him would not be needed. Mayor Torrey pointed out that PeaceHealth had a severe test to meet in the conditional use permit process for developing its chosen site. He urged the council not to force Peace Health into the Gateway area of Springfield where there was adequate space and willing sellers of land. Councilor Kelly believed that it was premature to discuss vetoing an ordinance whose form and substance was not yet known. Regarding the potential of PeaceHealth moving to Springfield, Councilor Kelly opined that the board had ties to the community of Eugene and would not think of moving to Springfield. He added that such a move would be the end of McKenzie Willamette Hospital and the end of hospital competition in the metro area. In response to a concern over the extra time added to the process by Councilor Nathanson's motions, City Manager Johnson said that items 1 and 2 would be difficult to provide accurate information about. He said that he would need direction from council as to a deadline date of a "high level, quick turnaround" report. He added that such a report would include lots of assumptions and educated guesses but would be as professionally done as possible. He stressed the need for a formal traffic analysis with a specific location in mind. Councilor Bettman commented that it was no secret that PeaceHealth was negotiating for property north of its existing site at Crescent, in and out of the urban growth boundary. She suggested adding possible urban costs into the study of Item 1. Councilor Farr stressed the need for a traffic analysis of the Crescent site versus the downtown site. Councilor Taylor said that a majority of councilors wanted the hospital to be in the downtown area. She said she would vote against Councilor Nathanson's motions. Councilor Nathanson said that the issue was not about what the council preferred but what was realistic and achievable for the City to accomplish. She stressed the need for an objective analysis. Councilor Pap8 commented that the council was forgetting that it was dealing with a private institution. He stressed that PeaceHealth owned its own land and had every right to move north. He expressed his preference for the hospital to stay in the core of the City but stressed again that PeaceHealth could do what it could with its property. Regarding Councilor Kelly's comments about the hospital's "ties to the City", Councilor Pap8 noted that the hospital's headquarters were in Bellevue, Washington, and it had no responsibility to make sure that McKenzie-Willamette hospital remained viable. He said that the City needed to make it possible for PeaceHealth to stay in the community. Mayor Torrey said his intent to veto the ordinance was to allow the hospital to examine all of its options and not to put the hospital at the Crescent site. He stressed that the council should not be limiting the options that the hospital had. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding how much staff time would be involved with the proposed motions, City Manager Johnson said that 60 days would be acceptable for defining options and assumptions for traffic analysis. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 9 Regular Session Councilor Nathanson stressed that the report was needed before PeaceHealth made a decision. In response to a suggestion from Councilor Bettman regarding a comparison of the Gateway and Crescent sites, City Manager Johnson commented that there was limited staff time and many tasks. He urged council to remember that the proposed study was supposed to be high level and with a quick turnaround. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether the first motion included the additional northern sites being negotiated for by PeaceHealth, Councilor Nathanson affirmed that it included those sites. Roll call vote; Motion 1, as amended, passed 6:1; Councilor Taylor voting no. Regarding the second motion, Councilor Bettman reiterated Councilor Kelly's interest in having typical densities to be included as well as maximum build out. She suggested a further friendly amendment, which was accepted, to include market trends in the area as well. Councilor Taylor reiterated her earlier comments regarding the preference of the council to see the hospital centrally located. She said that the council was "going backwards" from previous discussions. Roll call vote; Motion 2, as amended, passed unanimously. Regarding Motion 3, Councilor Bettman offered a friendly amendment, which was accepted, for the process to include an analysis of a Metropolitan Area General Plan amendment for the Crescent site. Roll call vote; Motion 3, as amended, passed unanimously. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding what her desired outcome was for Motion 4, Councilor Nathanson said the community needed to understand what a hospital zone would include and what the zoning would likely yield. Councilor Bettman raised concern over trying to analyze a design proposal from the hospital that was not guaranteed not to change. Roll call vote; Motion 4 passed, 5:2; Councilors Kelly and Bettman voting in opposition. Motion 5 was withdrawn by Councilor Nathanson and her second. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved for a high level, quick turnaround analysis of the impacts that the north Eugene site, and a possible Gateway site, would have on the provision of emergency room services in Eugene. City Manager Johnson said that he would consult Fire and Emergency Medical Services staff to do the analysis. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 10 Regular Session Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. The council discussed the various site options as presented by Mr. Bowers at the beginning of the work session. Sites were retained for study or removed from the list by consensus of the council. · Hilyard North site was removed from the list. · Hilyard East was removed from the list. · Hilyard West was retained as an area for further consideration. · Hilyard South was retained for further consideration. The council then discussed the sites situated around the Eugene Clinic. · Clinic Main was retained for further consideration. · Clinic North was removed from the list. · Clinic East was retained for further consideration. · Clinic South was retained for further consideration. · Clinic West was retained for further consideration. In response to a question from Councilor Taylor regarding whether anyone had considered Broadway for a potential site, City Manager Johnson said that the area had not been considered. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved to provide an opportunity for public input on the PeaceHealth expansion issue on July 24. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Torrey adjourned the work session at 11 p.m. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 11 Regular Session VI.CITY COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Torrey convened an Executive Session of the City of Eugene City Council to conduct deliberations with persons designated to negotiate real property and to consult with legal council regarding current litigation or litigation likely to be filed. The Executive Session was held pursuant to Oregon Revised Statutes 192.660(1)(e) and Oregon Revised Statutes 192.660(1)(h). Councilor Pap~ recused himself from the second item discussed and from the subsequent votes. Mayor Torrey adjourned the Executive Session. Mayor Torrey re-opened the regular session of the Eugene City Council. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved the resolution authorizing the institution of proceedings in imminent domain for the acquisition of property interests along the east bank of the Willamette River for the construction and maintenance of the East Bank Bike Trail. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:1; Councilor Fart voting in opposition. City Attorney Glenn Klein provided the following suggested motion: Move to adopt the resolution~ distributed at this meeting~ that authorizes the institution of eminent domain proceedings in order to acquire the Danebo site, except that page 2 of the resolution would not include the words "as a potential nodal type development demonstration site." Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved Mr. Klein's suggested motion. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 9, 2001 Page 12 Regular Session